Home Gaming Black Ops 3 had an 85% PlayStation 4 attach rate in the US in Q1

Black Ops 3 had an 85% PlayStation 4 attach rate in the US in Q1

3 min read
54

boots

I’ve always wondered how beneficial those co-marketing deals between game publishers and platforms holders can be. For a long time, Call of Duty was associated with the Xbox brand. The newest Call of Duty was always shown at Microsoft’s E3 event, and each game’s DLC had a month of timed Xbox exclusivity.

That changed, and now Activision is in bed with Sony as their Call of Duty co-marketing partner. It’s probably been beneficial for the both of them. According to Activision’s latest financial reports, during the first quarter of this year, 85% of the PlayStation 4’s sold in 2016 so far were sold alongside Call of Duty: Black Ops 3. That’s a pretty staggering attach rate – even if it’s a number that’s been ascertained through some creative accounting.

Earnings

People keep wondering if Call of Duty is still relevant, and if the game still has any sort of mainstream draw – and it’s easy to see that yes, yes it does. For years now, Call of Duty has been the biggest gaming behemoth on the planet, and it’s a status quo that doesn’t seem to be changing – despite protestation from what’s essentially a vocal (if passive aggressive) minority.

We told you yesterday that dissenters were protesting by disliking a YouTube video because this is the internet, and people need to show their dissatisfaction whoever they can. That sort of lopsided sentiment isn’t something that Activision is particularly worried about.

During an earnings call, Activision publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg issued a statement about that campaign, saying he’s not too worried.

“First of all, you gotta love the passion of gamers. This is an industry like no other and a fan base like no other. We love that our fans treat this franchise like their own and have such strong points of view about it. There just aren’t many entertainment franchises on earth that can generate the kind of passion that Call of Duty can… and that’s a good thing.

Secondly, of course, we know there are people in our community who are nostalgic for the boots on the ground-style gameplay; that’s why we made Modern Warfare Remastered. But we also have millions of people in our community who want to have new innovative experiences in the game each year and Infinite Warfare is going to deliver that.

The good news is this year we found a way to deliver both in one package while keeping our community together. While of course we see the passionate opinions on line, we also look at other measurements and the fact is — while it’s very early — pre-orders are off to a very strong start. Views of the reveal trailer … are up and, in fact, the number of likes per view on the Infinite Warfare trailer are the highest we’ve ever seen.

We’ve seen this in the franchise before. The reveal trailer for Black Ops 2, which took the franchise into the future for the first time, had the most dislikes of any reveal trailer we had ever made at that time. And that went on to become our most successful game ever.

Right now, the franchise has never been stronger. We have more people playing Black Ops 3, a game that takes place in the future, with boost jumps and fictitious weapons, than any game in our history.
What we know for sure is that if we always just did what worked in the past and never took any creative risks, we wouldn’t have a franchise. The day to worry is the day we stop trying new things.“

While the public perception is that Call of Duty is a simple copy and paste affair, I can’t imagine it’s an easy cycle for the trio of developers behind it, all having to juggle their ideas and trying to do new things while keeping the core of the series intact. Fact is you can’t please everyone, and even trying to do so must be a struggle.

Last Updated: May 6, 2016

54 Comments

  1. Kromas untamed

    May 6, 2016 at 08:39

    Call of duty is like a Spur. You can get it all over the place and it does fulfill your hunger needs. But you actually just go there so the kids can go play in the pit and you would rather be some place else to get decent quality food.

    Edit: Also for that crappy birthday jingle they sing.

    Reply

    • Pariah

      May 6, 2016 at 08:41

      Nailed it.

      Reply

    • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

      May 6, 2016 at 08:41

      XD One DOOM steak please! Bloody as hell

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief in New York

        May 6, 2016 at 08:43

        Somewhere, Trevor is vomiting

        Reply

        • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

          May 6, 2016 at 08:45

          Hopefully to make space for a decent steak for once?

          Reply

          • Pariah

            May 6, 2016 at 08:49

            lmao!!!

          • Admiral Chief in New York

            May 6, 2016 at 08:56

            xD

        • Alien Emperor Trevor

          May 6, 2016 at 08:55

          Typos don’t make me ill.

          Reply

  2. Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

    May 6, 2016 at 08:41

    Candy Crush – Nope
    COD – Nope
    Hearthstone – Nope
    Overwatch – Nope
    …..Seems I’m not a gamer anymore

    Reply

    • Pariah

      May 6, 2016 at 08:42

      Because of 4 games you’re not interested in?

      Do you play games, on your platform of choice, that appeal to you and provide you with entertainment? Yes? Then you’re a gamer.

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

        May 6, 2016 at 08:43

        Phew, felt like I was left behind for a second

        Reply

    • Kromas untamed

      May 6, 2016 at 08:42

      Candy Crush is not a game as for the rest you either are a sp gamer or you prefer a different genre to moba/fps.

      Reply

    • Admiral Chief in New York

      May 6, 2016 at 08:43

      No Overwatch?

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

        May 6, 2016 at 08:43

        Nein

        Reply

        • Admiral Chief in New York

          May 6, 2016 at 08:44

          I’ll play it, later, when it is free

          Reply

          • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

            May 6, 2016 at 08:44

            Yawol

        • Pariah

          May 6, 2016 at 08:44

          I’m kinda with you there. It looks cool, ish. But I’m not willing to spend money on it. I’ll play it as a f2p title though.

          Reply

          • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

            May 6, 2016 at 08:45

            Exactly, I watched Darryn’s stream yesterday. Still don’t see the value in it. Even for $40

          • Pariah

            May 6, 2016 at 08:46

            Even for $5 I wouldn’t. And $5 really isn’t much.

    • VampyreSquirrel

      May 6, 2016 at 08:50

      I see you found your Steam login details 😛

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

        May 6, 2016 at 08:51

        XD

        Reply

        • Pariah

          May 6, 2016 at 08:51

          You’re on steam?

          Reply

          • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

            May 6, 2016 at 08:52

            Yeah, but on a PC at work not home

          • Pariah

            May 6, 2016 at 08:52

            Right. “Work”

          • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

            May 6, 2016 at 08:53

            LOL I do work…. in increments

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      May 6, 2016 at 08:52

      Those games are sooooo mainstream, man! Quick, let us retire to the coffee shop and sneer at those without faux-lumberjack attire and who have realistic facial hair, or worse… NONE!

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

        May 6, 2016 at 08:52

        HAHAHAHA!

        Reply

      • Pariah

        May 6, 2016 at 08:53

        Let me guess, you’re typing this on your macbook air (head)

        Reply

        • Alien Emperor Trevor

          May 6, 2016 at 08:54

          And you’re not? Ug. Get away from me conformist!

          Reply

          • Pariah

            May 6, 2016 at 08:55

            Hey, I hated Macs before it was cool.

  3. Admiral Chief in New York

    May 6, 2016 at 08:43

    The numbers Mason…

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

      May 6, 2016 at 08:44

      I know what they mean! Activision is make a shit load of money

      Reply

  4. Alien Emperor Trevor

    May 6, 2016 at 08:50

    Normally I like to mock CEO statements like the one above because they’re generally clueless and out of touch, but that one’s actually pretty good.

    Reply

    • Geoffrey Tim

      May 6, 2016 at 09:57

      I’ve actually always like what Hirshberg has to say. Definitely a smart chap.

      Reply

  5. oVg whippersnapper

    May 6, 2016 at 08:51

    Infinity Wardfare FTW

    Reply

    • Pariah

      May 6, 2016 at 08:52

      Dota3?

      Reply

      • oVg whippersnapper

        May 6, 2016 at 08:53

        Im just trying to be hip, lol Pretending I know my shit when in fact my FPS bubble popped after BLACK.
        But give me a great Narrative in 60fps and Ill be hooked again. METRO Last Light Redux Is my number 1 FPS.

        Reply

        • Alien Emperor Trevor

          May 6, 2016 at 08:54

          Don’t try. You’re so old you could break your hip. 😛

          Reply

          • oVg whippersnapper

            May 6, 2016 at 08:55

            Re-Mastered Hip comes free with an expensive Hospital plan 🙂

          • Pariah

            May 6, 2016 at 08:56

            The painkiller DLC is extra though.

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            May 6, 2016 at 08:56

            Do you have the man for all seasons-pass? 😀

          • oVg whippersnapper

            May 6, 2016 at 08:57

            I have a yearly pass. Seasons are for plants.

        • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

          May 6, 2016 at 08:54

          That DOOM trailer though

          Reply

          • oVg whippersnapper

            May 6, 2016 at 08:59

            WIN, but, does it have a fully fleshed out world that feels alive like METRO? Jeeeez every NPC had 5 minutes of un-looped dialogue.

          • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

            May 6, 2016 at 09:11

            It has demons and a shotgun. Nuff said

          • Greylingad[He Charges!]

            May 6, 2016 at 09:12

            Jiiiiissssssss……….

        • Pariah

          May 6, 2016 at 08:55

          I never played Black. At the time my PC couldn’t run it, and by the time I had a PC that could I was over it. There were other games that tickled my fancy.

          Borderlands, for instance. No regrets.

          Reply

          • oVg whippersnapper

            May 6, 2016 at 08:56

            Actually, nothing beats Borderlands, not even Destiny. So much Handsome Win.

          • Strawman Jim

            May 6, 2016 at 09:40

            I absolutely agree. Borderlands is Love!

    • Strawman Jim

      May 6, 2016 at 09:39

      Infinity Tardfare?

      Reply

  6. Strawman Jim

    May 6, 2016 at 09:38

    Americans really love their burgers, massive steaks, Donald Trump, meth and Call of Duty… :/

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

      May 6, 2016 at 10:00

      And Celebrities

      Reply

      • Strawman Jim

        May 6, 2016 at 10:15

        And Celebrities shaped like burgers…

        Reply

  7. Gavin Mannion

    May 6, 2016 at 10:13

    85%… that’s madness…

    Reply

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